Docker or Development Container are great for isolation. And they work very well with things outside which are TCP/IP based. But most debug probes are USB only. Docker container don’t work well with USB. In Remote Debugging with DevContainer and VS Code, I showed how to use USB based debug probes. I demonstrated using them with an IP connection. In this article I show how Windows USB devices can be used from a container, with the help of usbipd.
I recently upgraded from Win10 to Win11. Windows 10 was not great for building performance compared to Linux. And I feel that with Windows 11 things got worse too.
Dev Container in VS Code uses docker-based environments. This enables me using a full-featured development environment, with isolated dependencies. This is especially very useful for development in the embedded systems space. There I have to use many different SDKs, toolchains and libraries. Using Dev Containers is super easy. But file I/O operations with building etc/is not that great.
The solution is to use a Docker Volume with VS Code and Dev Container:
Today’s projects and systems get more and more complex. Many systems include multiple MCUs, connected with a field bus or network, for example CAN. For example there can be up to 70 CAN nodes in modern cars. Such larger and connected systems are a challenge for debugging.
Traditional hardware debugging requires a hardware debug probe, connected with a dedicated SWD/JTAG debug cable to the target device. This needs dedicated pins on the target device plus physical access to the device itself. In many cases, this is not possible in the final product. The hardware debug probes, cables, pins and high speed signals are costly. And worse they can introduce new problems and are prone to interference.
If there is a field bus like CAN connecting all the MCUs, why not use it for hardware debugging? Hardware debugging meaning programming the FLASH memory, halt the MCU, inspect the memory and registers, and step through the code?
Yes, we can! With the help of a rather unknown hardware feature on ARM Cortex-M devices. We can use the ARM DebugMonitor Interrupt to control and debug the target system. As we would use a JTAG/SWD connection. Instead, we use the CAN bus :-).
Continue readingThe MetaClockClock is a clock made of clocks. It consists of multiple dual-shaft stepper motors, arranged as a matrix of 5×12 analog clocks. Each clock has two motorized hands that can move independently. The clock can tell the time, but in a unconventional way. The entire matrix creates a meta-display that shows the time or other information. Between the updates, the hand can do coordinated, choreographed movements.
The clock hands are laser cut acrylics with get light up with a LED ring around the clock.
This article describes the build with CNC cut oak enclosure, laser-cut parts and 3D printed items.
Continue readingIn Using Raspberry Pi and MCU-Link for Remote Embedded Debugging I created a remote server for debugging. I did order the NXP FRDM-IMX93 a few weeks ago, and did not had a chance to use it. So why not doing the same?
Here is how it can be uses as remote debug server,
Continue readingTest coverage is a very useful metric: it tells how much of your code has been covered by tests. Or the other way: it helps identifying areas of my code which has not been running tests. A new CMake extension in VS Code is available. It works with the new NXP LinkServer test runner to allow running tests on an embedded target. The really cool thing is: it collects and visualizes test data with coverage information in a single step:
SonarQube from Sonar is a free static analysis tool for VS Code. It is able to analyze the source code and find issues. SonarQube does a similar job as other static analysis tools like CppCheck for VS Code.
Cppcheck is a static analysis tool for C/C++. I have used it a lot for my Eclipse projects. And it runs with VS Code as well.
With Optimizing Embedded Development with VS Code and DevContainer I showed the benefits of using development containers. And with Remote Debugging with DevContainer and VS Code I explained ways use hardware debugging using that concept.
One topic is still open: how to use semihosting with file I/O using development container? The challenge here is that we need to work with two different file systems.
In this article I show how semihosting file I/O can be used with DevContainer.
Continue readingThe NXP SDK is git based which is great. If I create a project with VS code, it references the SDK cloned locally.
A standalone project structure is needed if you want to easily share a project with your team. It’s also necessary for sharing inside a classroom environment. This article shows how to use an NXP SDK project in standalone mode.
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MCU on Eclipse